The Bad Queen
by Banana Kisses
Summary: A collection of Levana-centric Tumblr prompts. Features many characters from Fairest.
1. A Breath Of Fresh Air

"If Levana had taken over Earth?"

* * *

150 million deaths.

Levana closed her eyes as she gripped onto the report that Aimery had left on her desk. 150 million people, Lunar and Earthen, had died in her conquest. And that was only civilians; a large number of her lupine soldiers had been euthanized after they proved too far gone to be useful.

Many said that it was the worst massacre since…well, since forever, they supposed. In just two months, more lives were lost than anyone could've ever feared in the past. Some were even calling it the fifth world war.

It was worth it, Levana told herself. She finally had Earth. As soon as the Lunar flag was erected in every one of Earth's major cities, she had the New Beijing Palace destroyed and rebuilt into something with more of an Artemisian flair. The citizens of New Beijing were appalled at the sight of the new structure, instead of the peaceful palace that had adorned the hilltop for over a century. But, of course, it didn't matter what they thought.

Most of the time, Levana was alone with her servants on Earth. The Lunar aristocrats were quite vocal about their distaste of Earth's grimy atmosphere and constant climate change, instead preferring to remain in their crystalline dome. This enraged the empress, of course; she had worked so hard and sacrificed so much, and yet those stuffy peacocks still refused to show any gratitude or respect.

Flinging the scrap of paper away, she walked over to the window. From her summer palace in the plains of England, there was nothing to see but fields and blue sky. She chose this, of all places, to build her little getaway because it was such a contrast from Luna's dark and dusty craters, the only thing to be seen outside the domes. She pushed the glass panes open and took a deep breath. With the fresh air, her lungs felt like they were burning; it left a foul taste in her mouth.

This was what she had been fighting for. It was what she needed, what Luna needed. Not the respect of the court, not vapid riches or meaningless praise. What she needed was a new start. A clean face.

A breath of fresh air.


	2. Rules and Instructions

"Levana babysitting Winter and Jacin."

* * *

Aside from the maid that kept close watch in the room next door, Levana was alone with the two young children. Winter was sleeping peacefully in her crib, leaving Jacin to sit alone on the floor, bored. Both their fathers were out on duty, and, by some fluke, Levana had been charged with the boy and her stepdaughter. She didn't really know how to handle the rambunctious two-year-old, so she sat aside with her netscreen and hoped that Jacin wouldn't wake the baby.

"Your Highness?"

Levana glanced up from her novel, narrowing her eyes. "What?"

"I'm bored."

"And what do you want me to do?"

"I'm booored," Jacin whined, crossing his arms over his chest. "I want Mother. She likes to play with me."

Levana put her hands on her hips, indignant. "I'll play with you," she said, coming down to his height. "What do you want to play?"

"Rules and Instructions."

She bit back a frown; the princess had always hated that game. It was an excellent way for Channary to further torture and control her younger sister. The leader of the game was to give 'instructions' and the second player had to obey them, at the risk of punishment, usually by the leader's choice. Levana hoped that Jacin's idea of punishment was nothing more than an embarrassing little handshake.

As bored as she was, she decided to humor him. "Alright. Do you want to be the leader?"

Jacin smiled. "Of course. I get to tell the princess what to do."

Don't rub it in. Levana forced a grin.

"Now…" Jacin looked up to the ceiling, "put your hand on your belly."

Levana did as she was told, already feeling ridiculous. "What next?"

"Put your other hand on your foot."

Her cheeks burning, she moved out one of her legs from under her skirt and grabbed her toes.

"Now, stand up and twirl. I want to see your pretty dress flutter."

Again, she obeyed, closing her eyes and spinning on the balls of her feet. She hoped that she wouldn't get dizzy.

It was around then that Channary walked in to find her sister stretching her arms over her head and puffing her cheeks, all to entertain a guard's brat son. The queen was quick to laugh and hold it over Levana's head. Humiliated, Levana chose to retire to her chambers; she swore that she would never again play that stupid, stupid game.

It was a rule to remember: never do anything in Channary's presence. Ever.


	3. In My Own Little Corner

"When Levana was little?"

* * *

It was her favorite little hiding place. Outside, right next to the lake's glistening waters, snug and out of sight. Levana would often run there when she was able to escape the commandeering grasp of her maids and nannies, as well as Channary's never ceasing tricks. In the crook behind the stone wall, Levana set up a little haven with toys and blankets where she could play undisturbed.

As was par for the course, though, Channary was quick to find out about her sister's secret and wasted no time ruining it for her. To her dismay, Levana would sneak away to find the nook ransacked, with half the toys either destroyed or missing.

When Levana wanted to be alone, Channary hid behind to wall and waited quietly; once she was completely immersed in her games, the crown princess jumped and let out a screech, effectively scaring the poor girl out of her skin. Levana would then cry and they would be put through the same routine, chastisement that wouldn't amount to anything, yadda yadda.

After the accident, Levana found herself visiting her place less and less. Because really , she had only ever stolen away in the comforts of solitude to get away from her amiable servants and the invasive children at court. With her destroyed face, she never needed to seek out loneliness; it had an uncanny way of finding her.

She no longer had any use for her own little corner.


	4. Hall Of Mirrors

"If Levana had survived?"

* * *

She was promptly imprisoned in the most elaborate cell she had ever seen. Every wall was made of solid metal; it was a silver box that no one could ever hope to see out of. No bars, no windows. She was completely alone with nothing but her own thoughts for company. She supposed that was done on purpose—they figured it would only be a short while before she went completely mad. Then, when she started hurting herself or attacking her guards, they would have an excuse to take her away and commit whatever atrocities they wanted. She had overheard some saying that they wanted to use her body for experiments, while others wanted to torture her until she died.

 _Why are you surprised?_

Levana shuddered. She wasn't. Ever since she woke up in prison, she knew that they would want to have their vengeance against her. All the citizens whose children she had turned into weapons, and all those whose families had been torn away by her plague and her war. Now, locked up in solitary confinement, she was, at the very least, safe from all of them. They could say and do anything they wanted out in the open. It wasn't like she would ever hear it.

The wall was very very cold, but she grit her teeth and slumped down against it. Her thin prison slip didn't do much do keep her warm. She wrapped her arms around her chest and let her knotted hair fall in her face. She had sworn that she would keep her sanity, if anything to not give her captors the satisfaction of having their way with her. It was getting harder and harder every day, though. She never knew what time it was, and not even meals gave her any indication; there were times when they just wouldn't feed her, and she was sure that it was for days at a time.

For all it was worth, it gave her a new sense of sympathy for the poor miners of the outer sectors. It must have been awful to be so hungry all the time. It wasn't something she would usually think, but it distracted her from her own starvation, so what was the harm?

Every little once in a while, there was one guard who would come in and escort her to her 'out time'—it may have been out of the cell, but the place where she was dragged to had to have been a thousand times worse. A big room with mirrors on every surface, and she was to spend hours in it at a time.

The first few visits, she had screamed and attempted to escape, but it was nothing but her reflection, over and over again. She couldn't find the door if her life depended on it. It didn't take long for her to realize that crying and bashing her head against the glass wouldn't shorten her time there, so instead, she would lie down on the hard floor and fall asleep in the deadly silence. Her long naps began to become the highlight of her life.

Clearly not so for her guard, though. She had quickly pieced together that he was the one who watched her on the invisible cameras—and she could tell that he was growing bored of her naps by the excessively rough way he handled her. Levana took a great sense of joy from his annoyance; he didn't deserve to see her suffering.

None of them deserved to see her suffering. The conditions may have been awful, and she may have been bored out of her skull, but she refused to give them reason to take her away. When Levana wanted to scream, she bit her cheek until she bled and cried silently. If she wanted to hit something, she pinched her arms—leaving her skin riddled with black and blue blotches. She refused to look at her guard in the eye. She didn't even react when he would insult her or touch her or take her by force when the cameras were deactivated. Let him do what he wanted; there was no one who would care. So why should Levana be concerned either?

As long as she was alive, they hadn't won. She was still queen in her own mind.

And really, that was all that had ever mattered.


End file.
